Who doesn’t like a quick and easy dinner that’s still delicious, healthy and looks fab? This dish is a favourite at our house, great in the summer with a glass of white wine and eaten on the patio, but equally enjoyable on a gray wintery Vancouver day This recipe makes enough for 6 hungry adults…And keeps well to have for lunch the next day too if there are leftovers. Enjoy!

Salad Ingredients:

1 red pepper (cut into thin slices vertically, then halved)

1 cup (ish) chopped fresh cilantro (bonus points if you pick it fresh from the garden!)

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

1 or 2 apples, peeled and chopped into chunks (I like MacIntosh the best, but Granny Smith are great too)

1 or 2 mangos

1/2 cup raisins

3/4 cup salted roasted cashews

4 cooked chicken breasts (these can be grilled, baked, or poached*, or even quicker grab a deli roast chicken from your local grocer and chop up enough meat for the dish)

Curried Dressing

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip please! I like to use Hellman’s Real Mayo, the 1/2 fat version)

1/2 cup Major Grey’s chutney

Juice of 1 lime (fresh only, not the bottled kind)

1 heaping teaspoon curry powder (add more if you like, I prefer mine a little milder)

1 small garlic clove, crushed

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients, using a blender to get rid of the chunks from the chutney. Mix enough dressing (tailor quantity to the amount of veggies and chicken you are using) into the (cooled) chicken and chill in the fridge until it’s time to serve.

To serve, mix remaining salad ingredients (vegetables, cashews, cilantro and raisins) together with the chicken mixture. I like serve it on a large white platter, spreading a layer of couscous (see note below), then shredded romaine lettuce, and the curried chicken salad on top. Garnish with some extra cilantro and the lime wedges (for squeezing over each serving).

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*To Poach Chicken: place raw chicken breasts in a pot, fill with enough water to cover, toss in a bay leaf or two, and place on the stove, bringing water to boil. Turn off the element, put a lid on the pot, and let them sit until just cooked (doesn’t take long).

For Couscous: make couscous according to directions on your box of couscous, but substitute chicken stock instead of hot water. Add in a teaspoon of cumin to flavour the couscous. Let cool completely before using to assemble salad.